2022.08.06

Rd. 4 Qualifying GT300: LEON PYRAMID AMG gets first pole position since 2020, beating out the BRZ always strong at Fuji Speedway!

Round 4 Fuji Speedway : Qualifying GT300

 

 

For the GT300 class qualifying, the teams were divided into groups A and B based on their team rankings after the previous round, with each group running a 10-minute Q1 session. The top eight qualifiers from these two groups, for a total of 16 cars would then move on to Q2. The Q1 Group A ran first, starting at 3:00 in afternoon. All the cars took three or four laps to warm up their tires before beginning their timed attacks. First of all, the No. 20 SHADE RACING GR86 GT (Eijiro Shimizu) was quick to record a time of 1’37.333 and then improve that time to 1’36.892 on the next lap. This became the target time for the other cars. With two minutes remaining in the session, it was the No. 4 GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG (Tatsuya Kataoka) that beat the time of car No. 20. But just after that, the winner of Round 2, also held at Fuji Speedway earlier this season, the No. 10 TANAX GAINER GT-R (Riki Okusa) which recorded a time of 1’36.159 to move into the top spot. The order from 3rd position down was the No. 18 UPGARAGE NSX GT3 (Takashi Kobayashi) followed by the No. 52 SAITAMATOYOPETGB GR Supra GT (Hiroki Yoshida) and car No. 20. Also managing to qualify on to Q2 by finishing in 8th position, despite carrying 99 kg of Success Weights, was the current ranking leader, the No. 56 REALIZE NISSAN MECHANIC CHALLENGE GT-R (Joao Paulo de Oliveira).

In the following Group B session, the teams began to improve on their lap times one after another beginning from the last three minutes of the session right down to the checkered flag lap. First it was the No. 96 K-tunes RC F GT3 (Shinichi Takagi) that recorded a fast time of 1’37.114 and then brought that down to 1’36.861 on the next lap. With approximately one minute left in the session, the No. 5 MACHSYAKEN AIR BUSTER MC86 MACH GO (Yusuke Tomibayashi) suffered machine trouble and came to a stop at track-side on the in-side on the exit of the last corner. Fortunately, this did not result in a Red Flap stoppage, and other cars were able to continue improving on their times one after another. Then, with the checkered flag showing on the final lap of the session, the No. 11 GAINER TANAX GT-R (Keishi Ishikawa) improved its time to a 1’36.589 lap and claim the top spot in Group B. The second-place qualifier, having run an equally fast time was the No. 50 Arnage MC86 (Ryohei Sakaguchi). Qualifying from 3rd to 5th position in the Group B session were the No. 2 muta Racing GR86 GT (Yuui Tsutsumi), the No. 65 LEON PYRAMID AMG (Takuro Shinohara) and the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Takuto Iguchi), in that order.

 

 

 

Due to the time lost in clearing from the course the No. 5 car that had come to a stop in the Q1 Group B session, the GT300 class Q2 session began two minutes behind schedule at 3:55 in the afternoon. This 10-minute session would decide the grid positions for tomorrow’s race. The first to score a top time of 1’36.704 that would become the target time for the other cars was the No. 7 Studie BMW M4 (Augusto Farfus). With three minutes remaining in the session the, as the cars were bringing down their times, it was Hideki Yamauchi in the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT that took a big chunk off the top time. Having won three consecutive pole positions at Fuji Speedway since 2021, Yamauchi showed his speed here once again by bringing the competition down into the 1’35 sec. range and grabbing the top spot with a time of 1’35.567.
However, just before time ran out in the session, it was Naoya Gamou in the No. 65 LEON PYRAMID AMG who recorded a time of 1’35.550, a mere 0.017 sec. faster than that of the No. 61 BRZ. That time held until the end to give the No. 65 LEON PYRAMID AMG (Naoya Gamou/Takuro Shinohara) its first pole position of the season. For both Gamou and the team, it was their first pole since the one they took at Fuji Speedway in the opening round of the 2020 season and their fourth overall. Qualifying in 2nd position came the No. 61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Takuto Iguchi/Hideki Yamauchi). Third position went to the No. 4 GOODSMILE HATSUNE MIKU AMG (Nobuteru Taniguchi/Tatsuya Kataoka). Qualifying in 4th position was No. 10 TANAX GAINER GT-R (Ryuichiro Tomita/Riki Okusa/Yusuke Shiotsu) that had recorded the fastest time in Group A of Q1, while the No. 18 UPGARAGE NSX GT3 (Takashi Kobayashi/Kakunoshin Ohta) qualified in 5th.

 

 

 

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